2 ms·
"The goal of a minimum wage is difficult to pin down" No, it isn't. The point of minimum wage is to outlaw jobs that cannot reasonably* feed people doing them.
by js8 8y ago
"The goal of a minimum wage is difficult to pin down"
No, it isn't. The point of minimum wage is to outlaw jobs that cannot reasonably* feed people doing them. (*Subject to societal norms.)
Existence of such "jobs" is immoral, and is not very different from slavery. If the society cannot pay enough for some work, it simply shouldn't be a job (and should not be called such).
Despite what some economics schools try to make it, people are not apples. Apple doesn't care what is its market price. But a human almost always does. Survival of apple and human depends on their respective market price, but we as a society, I hope, value human survival more.
- sah2ed 8y ago> The point of minimum wage is to outlaw jobs that cannot reasonably feed people doing them. (Subject to societal norms.) OK, how does a society put a dollar figure on what a reasonable minimum wage should be, subject to societal norms, as you put it? Keep in mind that what an unskilled worker 'll end up with at the end of any given week will be: - agreed hourly rate x hours worked If the unskilled worker ends up with pneumonia for that week, s/he essentially gets nothing since no hours were worked, so a minimum wage doesn't really insure against inability to work due to circumstances beyond one's control. That's a separate issue on its own.